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Abortion was legalised in
1967, one of the final acts of the 1960s' permissive/progressive period. It
has never been free on demand but requires the agreement of two doctors taking
into account any mental or physical danger caused by the pregnancy.
At that time abortion was legal until 28 weeks of pregnancy but Parliament reduced
this in 1990 to 24 weeks. It would be very wrong to imagine, however, that a
large number of abortions are actually carried out in such advanced states of
pregnancy: nearly 200,000 abortions take place each year and over 85% of them
are before twelve weeks.
It is estimated that about 4,000 Irish women come to Britain each year to obtain
an abortion because abortion, along with divorce and homosexuality, is illegal.
The Irish Government is not allowed, however, to prevent women going to other
countries, although this is something it has tried to do, but the 1992 case
of a young teenage rape victim who was at first denied the right to leave Ireland
brought the problem riqht out into the open and suggests that new legislation
may soon take place in Ireland.
These are examinations normally
taken by students in their final year at school, i.e. at around the age of 18
and is the qualification usually required for entrance to university*, polytechnic*
and other forms of higher education.
Unlike the situation in most other European countries, British students normally
take W Levels in only 3 subjects, although it is not impossible to take more
and many students take even fewer; the last years at school therefore concentrate
on just these three subjects, which means that people effectively have to think
about their future career at the age of 16 after taking their GCSE*.
' A' Levels have always been regarded as the 'gold standard' by the Government
and universities alike and have changed very little during the last few years
of educational reform; GCSE, at the age of 16, has become progressively easier
while W Levels have not, and so the hurdle between the two examinations is getting
higher all the time.
Universities normally expect three good W Level grades from their applicants
before they will be admitted, although the exact requirements vary from subject
to subject and university to university, sometimes even from individual to individual.
(an asterisk (*) indicates a cross-reference to a separate item)
Although ale is a word used more often by foreigners than by British people, it is nevertheless the classically English form of beer. Beer is a general word which includes ale, lager and stout - indeed any fermented drink made from grain and seasoned with hops. Ale refers to a beer which, unlike most foreign beers, has a top-fermenting yeast and which matures naturally in the cellar of the pub. Breweries do not necessarily like the extra work involved in this process and have tended to produce a stable, non-maturing fizzy beer. The Campaign for Real Ale* has fought vigorously against this.
The Alliance Party of N.Ireland was formed in 1970 and is the only political party in N.Ireland which draws support from Catholics and Protestants alike. Perhaps as a result of this it is not very large, receives about 7% of the popular vote and has no M.P.s in Parliament.
ASH is a charity whose full
name is Action on Smoking and Health and which was founded in 1971 to discourage
smoking. It is especially opposed to cigarette advertising, which is now banned
on television. British tobacco companies sell about 7h billion pounds worth
of cigarettes and the Government earns about 6 billion pounds through cigarette
taxes each year.
over 100, 000 people die prematurely each year in Britain as a result of smoking-related
illnesses and the cost to the National Health is about 500 million pounds a
year.
